Training prawn hatchery/farm staff in collecting samples was identified as a priority need in FRDC Project No. 2012/030 (Prawn Superpowers Summit – enhancing awareness of emergency aquatic animal disease response arrangements for the Australian prawn farming industry, Matt Landos and Helen Jenkins, March 2013).

Further consultation this year (2015) with the APFA, Industry members, the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (QDAF), the CSIRO Agriculture Flagship and the newly established Australian Research Council (ARC) Research Hub for Advanced Prawn Breeding coordinated by James Cook University (JCU) have reaffirmed the need for a hands-on training workshop. These parties have identified that such a workshop should cover a refresher on Emergency Response procedures including prawn sampling requirements and procedures as well as prawn sampling needs and procedures for prawn pedigree analysis and viral screening to fulfil the needs of breeding programs.

Government and industry have state, national and international obligations for responding to biosecurity incursions, including notifiable diseases. The emergency response framework includes OIE (world organisation for animal health) manuals, national AQUAVETPLAN manuals, State legislation and emergency management plans. Readiness requires on-going training to ensure skills are maintained and updated.

Ongoing aquatic disease response training should be considered at the National, State and industry levels (FRDC 2012/044). National protocols for fish kill investigations have previously been documented (FRDC 2005/620). South Australia have since developed protocols for responding to fish kills (PIRSA's Emergency Management Doucment: aquatic animal health). However, a fish kill training program (in line with national standards) in South Australia (aimed at government and industry personnel) is needed.

This project (training funds) aims to upskill key PIRSA fish kill investigators by attending the WA fish kill investigation course.

As an outcome, knowledge gained will assist in the development of a fish kill training program in South Australia.

Viral diseases are among the most important of all health issues in aquaculture and fisheries. Their rapid and accurate recognition is central to the prevention of spread and the control of emerging diseases. Morphological diagnosis based on gross pathology, histopathology and electron microscopy remain vital in the diagnostic process, and are essential to complement accurate molecular aetiolgical diagnosis. Practitioners of morphological diagnosis are becoming scarce, and this application enables knowledge transfer from one of the world's foremost experts, Dr Teruo Miyazaki from Japan. This knowledge transfer requires a hand-on approach in a small group setting, using a multiheaded microscope with plenty of opportunity for discussion. for this reason a face-to-face visit is essential. Improving aquatic animal health diagnostic capacity is a priority for FRDC specifically to prevent and manage disease incursions, and to develop diagnostic procedures and techniques to rapidly detect and identify pathogens. This is also a priority for state jurisdictions.

In addition to viral diseases, Dr Miyazaki has career long expertise in general fish pathology, so his visit presents diverse opportunities for continuing education of Australian aquatic animal health diagnosticians.